Chicago church leaders call for a weekend of peace

Pastors from throughout the Chicago area pray during a press conference about gun violence. (Alex Garcia)

Calling for widespread action to stop gun violence in Chicago, about 70 faith leaders from the city and nearby suburbs gathered Monday for prayer and reflection.

"We're tired of doing funerals. I feel like this tiredness has awakened us to really do something," said Pastor Paco Amador of the New Life Community Church in Little Village.

Pastors who led the service at the Loop's First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple called for peace this coming weekend, encouraging everyone to attend a worship service. Church leaders who attended Monday said they will send a message of hope to their congregations.

"We have to begin to speak a different message than what we're hearing in the news," said New Landmark Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Cy Fields, who helped organize Monday's event. "That there is hope, that there is peace, there are positive things going."

An increase in homicides in the city sparked Monday's gathering. For the first half of 2012, homicides jumped about 39 percent over the year-earlier period, while shootings rose 9 percent.

"Chicago seems like it's become a war zone," Fields said.

Church officials, some with members directly affected by shootings, took turns at the microphone, encouraging one another and the public to combat the violence by contacting their legislators and demanding stricter gun laws, like an assault weapons ban, and by being better fathers, mothers and neighbors.

It's for everyone in all parts of the city — especially pastors, families, police and government officials — to take part of the responsibility for the violence and start doing more to prevent it, Fields said.

"We're calling on every facet, every institution and all the residents to get involved," Fields said. "All of us have some skin in the game."

When Amador spoke to the religious leaders, he recalled his congregation's mourning in March of Aliyah Shell, 6, a girl killed by a stray bullet while sitting on her front porch with her mother.

"Let's not allow our hearts to get used to little girls, 6 years old, getting gunned down outside their house," Amador said.

In addition to delivering hopeful sermons this weekend, Fields said he hopes church leaders will spread the word of the clergy coalition's website, chicagoclergycoalition.org, that aggregates the names and contact information of youth ministries and day camps available for young people who need somewhere safe to hang out.